Israel Blocks U.N. Envoy at Airport

Posted on Dec 15, 2008

iphone.foxnews.com

No go: U.N. envoy Richard Falk, a Princeton professor, has been a longtime critic of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

There was no doubt as to Israel’s take on recent comments about Israeli-Palestinian relations made by United Nations official Richard Falk when he arrived Sunday at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, only to be denied entry and sent immediately back to Zurich.

AFP via Yahoo News:

Falk, who is the UN’s monitor of human rights in the Palestinian territories, last week prompted Israel’s ire when he said its policies against people in the territories amount to a “crime against humanity.”

The Israeli ministry said Falk’s mandate is biased and that this is “further exacerbated by the highly politicized views of the rapporteur himself, in legitimizing Hamas terrorism and drawing shameful comparisons to the Holocaust.”

Israel: UN Rights Envoy is ‘Unwelcome’
US Professor Was Detained for Over 20 Hours at Tel Aviv Airport Before Expulsion
Posted December 15, 2008

The Israeli government held UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Richard Falk for over 20 hours at a Tel Aviv airport, before eventually putting him on an airplane bound for Los Angeles. UN officials complained of the envoy’s treatment, saying “one doesn’t expect a UN special rapporteur to find himself in that position.”

But Israel defended the action, with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni declaring that Falk, a Princeton professor who condemned the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, was “unwelcome in Israel.” A later statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Professor Falk of “legitimizing Hamas terrorism.” Israeli human rights group B’Tselem condemned the move, saying that barring the entry of the professor was “an act unbefitting of democracy.”

Israel was outraged at the appointment of Prof. Falk to the position in March, claiming his history of harsh criticism of Israeli policies made him unsuitable for the position. Falk compared Israel’s history of collective punishment in the Gaza Strip with that of Nazi Germany, of which he later said “if this kind of situation had existed for instance in the manner in which China was dealing with Tibet or the Sudanese government was dealing with Darfur, I think there would be no reluctance to make that comparison.”

Libarchist- Your statement that if you were Prime Minister of Israel, you would have evicted all Palestinains from the West Bank and Gaza is spoken like a true religious adherent. this would involve mass murder. Power structures have hijacked religions to legitimate Divine and earthly power, but it is adherents like yourself that have helped make religion what it is.

At some point the final solution being enacted by Israel will come to its conclusion and shortly thereafter so will we. Unlike the similar Nazi horrors I do not think we will have long to reflect on those by Israel.

Howard it is the Palestinian that need to be left alone It is the IDF that need to go back behind the green line. It is Egypt, Jordan and Abbas who needs to freeze all communication with Israel until It sub mite to the many UN resolution. Might is not right and do not last forever

they wish to be left alone. They left Gaza and rockets still arrrive daily. Every day the rockets. what kind of people do that. Let their leaders hurt them continually and feed them utter nonsense. Let Egypt take Gaza back. The UN feeds gazans daily. They Gazans are on the UN’s dole. They produce nothing but hatred for their neighbors. Do not teach their children anything in school but that. Pure hatred.

Israel is not doing anything to the Gazans that everybody is so bent out of shape about. They left them alone to see if they can govern themselves and they cannot do that even. Was a test. Which failed.

Where are their Arab brethren? Not a pip or piece of help. Not now or since 60 years ago when they invaded the new state of Israel. They are making the Pal’s the fall guy.

If missiles and rockets continued into our country from Mexico or Canada we would not sit as idly by. For sure not.

Libarchist-I see that you are sincere, as I suspected. Addled but sincere. Why do Catholics hate you? I look Jewish and Catholics don’t hate me, or at least no more than anyone else does. We have frends where the man is Jewish and the woman Chinese, both lawyers, and no one in their right mind hates their kids. I don’t know though, Anarchist, that the class of people in their right mind would include you.

Fadel Abdallah
After reading some of your stupid posts, I came to the conclusion that you suffer from bi-polar disease! If I were you I would abandon making fool of myself and go to seek treatment for my bi-polar disease!

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With all that anger; you actually are shocked that that Israelis built a wall— to keep you Palestians out?

Your lucky I’m not Prime Minister, there in Isreal; I would have you all evicted from the West Bank and Gaza.

I think Israel was justified in kicking him out; what sort of “man of peace” calls people butchers; and says he is looking for a reconciliation of differences—in the same sentence.
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After reading some of your stupid posts, I came to the conclusion that you suffer from bi-polar disease! If I were you I would abandon making fool of myself and go to seek treatment for my bi-polar disease!

The very idea that you or any nation or person should be punished because of the actions of another are simply and irrefutably ludicrous.
The Israelis are punishing one and a half million people for the actions of a few. This is clearly a crime against humanity as is set down in the Geneva Conventions. And why were the Geneva Conventions written up, partly because the Nazis committed crimes against humanity, some of them having to do with the Jews of Europe.
Now for the Israelis to do the very same things to the Palestinians is beyond reasoning, and for the United States to block any punishment of the Israelis in the Security Council of the UN is an even
bigger “sin.”
The American government is backing an outlaw, rogue nation in its quest for the genocidal extermination of the Palestinian people. This is and will always be
reprehensible and despicable.
For too long now, the American’s have propped up the Israeli government and we have incurred the ire of a whole region of the world. These very same people, have asked for parity in the American policy only to be shown the door as far as Israel is concerned.
We the people, must now demand that action be taken to remedy the unequal and inequitable treatment and policies of the government, that have caused and continue to cause this furore over the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis.
I, for one, stand now firmly in the camp of those Israelis, who have seen the light of the governments ways and are ashamed at the way, both our nations have treated the Palestinians.
America is mostly to blame for the ill-treatment of the Palestinians, without the backing of the US, Israel could not continue the kind of policies that have caused the Palestinians to come to such straits.
If you encounter any program that deals with the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians in a fair manner, you will see the horrors of the ghettos of Lodz, Warsaw and others, played out in real time and happening now. We are to blame for this mess and we must stop propping up the Israeli government NOW!

I am in favor if ending all foreign aid and financial assistance of any kind to Israel. Israel’s interference in American politics has become too meddlesome and harmful to America. Israeli’s appear to have become too hardened and embittered to respond in humane ways. I care more about the hardships of people in America than I do about Israel.

Folktruther
This is being done deliberately by the Israeli power structure that controls the power system with the support of a large fraction of the Jewish population.

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I actually doubt it; most of what you describe is simply evil. Poverty is evil, and no one knows the reasons why evil exists, but it does. Evil grows from fear—the seeds of destruction planted by fear; which leads to war, poverty and destruction.

It could be possible that most of the Palestinians have been blinded by this evil; too make the Jews seem to be evil—but in reality they are your friends. I am all the way here in America so I can be somewhat objective.

I know what it is like to be left out of something that is mine, because both Christians and Jews, have cultural problems with me; because I am Catholic Jew.

The Catholics “hate” me because I look like a Jew, and the Jews like me, because I am a half Jew—but my parents disowned me on my fathers Jewish side, because my mother was Irish Catholic.

So, I know what it like to be alienated; from something that I feel belongs to me; and I know how frustrating it can be….but after all my experiences in the West— I believe the Jews, are the most hospitable friendly people on this planet.

The Palestinians have to watch out for the Western fundamentalist Christians (people like Obama, Bush, the CIA,etc.), they are the Palestinians enemies.

Trust me I have no axe to grind with the Palestinians, I have never even been to the Middle East…. and I know Bin Laden was created by the CIA and does not represent Islam.

Some Jews want to kill all Muslims and some Muslims want to kill all Jews, and they are neighbors living in Palestine. Nothing can change that situation. The USA should never have gotten involved in that quicksand.All other nations were wise and did not get involved; we were foolish and will pay for our folly forever.

Libarchist- Don’t you understand that the Gazans, a million and a half people, are being starved, forced to drink contaminated water, deprived of medicines? What planet are you from? A family must see its children malnourished to the point that any illness can kill them, wives and husbands see each other waste away.

This is being done deliberately by the Israeli power structure that controls the power system with the support of a large fraction of the Jewish population. If I thoought you were a Zionist like Inherit I simply wouldn’t bother with you. But I think(perhaps wrongly) you are simply massively clueless.

Since this characterizes the American population, I am interested in the phenomenon, and, consequently, in dingbats like you. A power structure is starving a milliion and a half people and you are most concerned about calling them names? And this justifies ejecting a rappor from the UN from the dispute so they can continue starving them?

By Little Brother, December 15 at 11:36 am #
“… what sort of “man of peace” calls people butchers; and says he is looking for a reconciliation of differences—in the same sentence.”
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An honest one.

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I don’t see what is so shocking; during a covert war between the Palestinians and the Jews, injustices will be done, that is why wars are evil.

There is no reason to call the Israelis butchers.

I’m sure they know that unfortunate things happen, and want wars to end just as much as the Palestinians.